We Want Wifi!

Who knows when you’ll be reading this post. But, we know exactly when and where it’s being written. It’s Friday, July 31st, and we’re back at the laundromat in Joyce. I’m so pleased to report that the temperature is much cooler. However, the wifi that was smokin’ here just a few days ago is now non-existent. Heck, we even packed up our dirty laundry for this trip. So, now, we have to sit and wait for our laundry while our laptops sit idle.

It’s one thing to go without TV. But, we’re learning that it’s something completely different for us (actually, me) to go many days without an internet fix.

To be fair, we’ve had a wee bit of access. Our iphones have browsing capabilities, but there’s only so much you can do on a three-inch screen with your thumbs. I have facebook loaded on my phone, but the capabilities are limited. It’s just enough to update status and barely check in on friends. We can read email, but nobody’s getting a lengthy reply from me when, again, all I have to work with are my thumbs. Of course, some is better than none. So, we really have nothing to complain about at all. But, if it’s time for true confessions, I need wifi!

After all, we have a couple of blogs to maintain. I’ve written a couple of days worth of posts for Bullwinkle’s Travels recounting our latest adventures. But, it looks like they’ll have to wait for now. Meanwhile, we sit and contemplate our options while we watch our clothes spin.

We very purposely decided to wait to determine what internet solution would be best for us until we were on the road. It’s not a decision we need to make immediately (This particular moment, it feels like it is, but it’s not.) and we definitely want the decision to be informed by experience.

One solution we’ve done a wee bit of research on is a service called Autonet. The way we understand it, it’s a magical box that utilizes whatever cell signal is available to turn your vehicle into a wifi hotspot. Our own personal wifi network! There’s a monthly fee that varies based on how much data you send or receive. It looks like it might be a dollar or two a day.

Today, I’d happily spend that amount. But, we’re a long way from a place that installs such equipment anyway. For now, we’ll turn the question on you, our readers.

What do you do for your daily wifi fix when you’re on the road?

We look forward to your answers. Now, we gotta go fold.

Lazy Day

We’re having a great time here in Port Angeles. After a few long days of driving it’s a treat to park by a beach for nearly a week. We’ve seen many of the sites around town and hooked up with fellow fulltimers Deb and Rod. We’re looking forward to seeing them again on Friday! With a full day trip to Victoria scheduled for tomorrow, we’re keeping ourselves pretty darn busy.

We slept in this morning and were obviously in no rush to go anywhere or do anything. When we were finally up and about I had something to say.

“Don’t laugh when I say this,” I said to Paul. “But, I think today should be a lazy day.”

He nodded in agreement and was curious to know why I thought such a statement would be a laughing matter.

“Some people would think every day for us is a lazy day,” was my reply.

We’re learning one of the essential ingredients of our new lifestyle. Not every day is about going from here to there or getting out and about and seeing the sights. Some days about our doing chores. Other days, like this one, are about doing basically nothing.

Oh sure, we’ll get out and walk about, if it’s not too hot. And, if you’re reading this, we were successful in our efforts to go find some wifi.

On this warm lazy day, that’s just about enough.

Red Box

Have you heard about Red Box? Have you tried it?

We had heard about it, but had yet to give it a try. We thought everyone had heard of it, but we’ve met some fulltimers who hadn’t. Now that we’ve tried it, we just have to talk about it!

As newbie fulltimers parked in a bit of a remote campground in front of a row of trees that provide no shade but block our satellite, our entertainment options are limited. We have no DVR (yet) so there’s no catalog of shows queued up for our viewing pleasure. So, our rolling home entertainment center sits idle.

Here in Port Angeles, we were checking out of our second Walmart in two days (Yep, we’re fulltimers!) when we spotted a Red Box machine. Our two entertainment-deprived souls were lifted as we caught eye of the titles that were available for a mere buck a night. We spotted Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and chimed in perfect unison, “Let’s get that one!” I put a finger to the screen, and with a quick swipe of my credit card the magical red machine popped out the DVD we wanted to see.

With our Walmart essentials and evening’s entertainment in tow, we headed back to the moose for dinner and a movie. We settled our stuffed bodies into our comfy chairs and fired up the DVD. For a couple of hours we basked in the warm glow of our flat screen TV. This, alone, was worth our one dollar investment. The fact that the movie was a good one was icing on the cake.

Today, on our way to Olympic National Park, we stopped at an Albertson’s with a couple of Red Box machines outside. If a dollar a night wasn’t enough of a value proposition, the fact that you can return your movie to any Red Box anywhere makes it the greatest thing since sliced bread in our book. One touch of the screen and the magical machine sucked that DVD into its belly. The screen assured me that our movie had been successfully returned.

Now, that’s cheap entertainment!

Our Comfort Zone

We're into our third week as fulltimers, and we've found something very important.

We found our comfort zone.

Yes, these days, our comfort zone is a spacious pull-through at a super-friendly park just off the highway in the westernmost part of Oregon. It's a special place filled with good friends and great people. It was the perfect place to spend week number two in our life as fulltimers. We shared stories, laughs, plans for the future, good food, wine and stuff that looks like wine. Each day started with coffee (if we were up early enough) and sometimes muffins, and each evening began with a community happy hour. In between, we explored the coast, picked up a few geocaches and snapped a bunch of great looking pictures that will seal this very special week in our memories. We really like it there!

This morning we didn't really want to leave.

In fact, we could imagine ourselves spending the rest of the summer there.

It would've been a whole lot of fun.

As we readied ourselves to hit the road, we reflected on the conversations of the week.

A few days ago, a neighbor asked us where our "home park" was. When we explained we were newbie fulltimers and didn't yet have a park to call home, she responded with a big smile.

"Oh! You're exploring!" she said, and assured us we'd find a place to settle down when the time was right. Meanwhile, she wished us many happy and trouble-free miles.

Our own Godfadda told us we needed to get out there on the road, on to the next chapter of our fulltiming adventures. (And, we don't think he was just trying to get rid of us!)

This morning, his lovely bride Juanita captured the lesson of the day.

"It's time for you to get out of your comfort zone," she said. And, boy was she right.

One of the greatest things about fulltiming is the freedom. If you want to keep the jacks down and hang out awhile you can. If you want to go, you can do that to.

We're learning that there are days when as much as you want to stay, it really is time to go. As newbie fulltimers we are out here to explore. Our mission is to see the country and meet great people. To do that, we need to go places...and keep on stepping outside our comfort zone.

Where Are We From?

That's a good question! 

We've been asked several times in the last couple of weeks, and we haven't quite landed on an answer. It's not really the kind of question that most people have to give any thought. But, we've given it quite a bit. 

Most recently, we're from Oakland, California. And, while we feel no sense of loyalty or hometown spirit about the place, that's probably the most accurate, if not the most heartfelt, response.

Our new address says we're from Livingston, Texas. So, we've tried that one on a time or two. But, it's a bit tough to call a place you've never been to home, just because your mail passes through there. Once we have Texas drivers licenses and plates on the moose and squirrel, we might feel a bit more comfortable calling that great state home. 

As native Kansans, we could claim that we're from the Sunflower State. But, having not lived there for nearly 10 years, that doesn't ring quite true for us either. 

During our travels today, we received a sage piece of advice on the matter from da Godfadda. He shared a story of some newbie fulltimers he knew who wrestled with the same issue as they crossed the border into Canada. Their complex answer to a very simple question had them stopped by the the border patrol for hours. 

So, when we make the ferry crossing to Victoria next month, we have our answer ready: We're from California. But, for everyone else who asks the question, we're still working on a good answer.

We've Got Mail

Today was one of those days that it is painfully obvious that we're newbies at this fulltiming gig. 

What did we do?

We obsessed about getting our mail. 

With plans to venture down the coast for some sightseeing, we decided to hold off until today's mail delivery to the park. (That wasn't a problem for me, as Juanita invited me to join her on a trip to Quilter's Corner this morning. I happily obliged!) By late morning, the mail had been delivered and there was nothing for us. And, there should have been. 

Going from our daily mail delivery into a slot at our house to having to think about when and where we can have mail delivered is a big change for us. Ever since my first days in a college dorm, where I had my very own mailbox, I have come to love that part of the day when I see what came in the mail. Having been deprived of that daily rush for nearly two weeks, I was really looking forward to our first on-the-road mail delivery. 

As members of Escapees, it was an easy decision to enroll in the club's mail forwarding service. It has a well-earned reputation for dependable, personal service. Plus, it's a great value. As newbies, I decided to call them last week to request a one time delivery to our park in Port Orford. I was impressed to receive an email confirming our maiden mail shipment was on its way, complete with a tracking number. Like a kid tracking Santa's route on Christmas Eve, I logged on the USPS web site and charted the progress of our package. It was delivered to the Port Orford Post Office on Saturday at 7:38AM. 

So, when our much-anticipated package didn't arrive this morning, I was more like an addict in need of a hit. How much longer would I have to wait for the pleasure of opening my mail?  We decided to go to the source. We headed for the post office. 

Where we come from, going to the post office is something you avoid at all costs. It's a place where lines are long and people can get grumpy. Really grumpy. But, here in Port Orford, the post office is a pleasure. Everyone is really helpful and very friendly. I'm so sorry we won't have to go back. 

Before long, the mystery was solved. That precious Priority Mail package was in our possession. As he pulled the tab to release the contents inside, Paul exclaimed "We've Got Mail!"

Indeed we do. Was it anything terribly important? Not really. We've gone paperless with most of that stuff. Even though it was just a magazine and a few random pieces of bulk correspondence, it's stuff to open and read, if ever so briefly. It definitely scratched our itch.

Most importantly, we now know that we can make our mail forwarding service work. Already, we're looking at the calendar for when and where we want to have another package delivered to us down the road.

Chores

If we were on a two week vacation, we would have headed for home today.  

Yes, it's starting to sink in that we're not on holiday, this is our home and we're adopting a new lifestyle. And, yes, it's way different.

There's one thing that most reminds us that we really are fulltiming: Our household chores.

Nothing like a little work to help you realize you're not on vacation! 

As we were headed toward Port Orford, we created a list of chores we wanted to get done while we were here. Sitting in one place for a week gives you the luxury of time to be able to take care of a few things. It's harder to do when you're in one spot for just a night or two. 

Our list included things like laundry, groceries, purging (can you believe that?), reorganizing, getting mail, making reservations for down the road and washing the moose. We spent time this morning doing the latter while our friends patiently waited for us before heading out for a bit of geocaching. We've washed the moose before, but we forgot what a big job it is. Many hours later Bullwinkle was squeaky clean, much more time had passed than we thought, and we were very late for our geocaching date. 

With all these chores behind us, we're tired. But, it's a good kind of tired. Not that crazy exhausted tired we felt before the move. No, this feels pretty good.

Thanks to these chores, it feels like we actually live here. 

Meeting Up

We're well into our second week on the road, and it's official: We Love Fulltiming!

(Not that there was ever any doubt, mind you.)

So far, the thing we like best is meeting up with people. Sure, we've had all kinds of casual conversations with neighbors at each stop. And, those are great. What I'm talking about is meeting up with people we already know...and the people they already know. It's made our initial days as fulltimers like a party. There's so much to celebrate!

We met up with two couples we've known for several years in Bend. This was the first time we got to see them on their home turf. Hanging with the locals made our stay in Bend extra special.

In Crescent, we met up with Linda and Steven, future fulltimers we met virtually just a few weeks ago. There was something about them that compelled us to make a special stop to meet them in person. And, we're so happy that we did. Our initial meeting was filled with hugs, smiles and loads of laughter. When you can meet people for the first time and feel immediately like long-time friends, that's something. We so look forward to seeing them again down the road.

Here in Port Orford, we scheduled a very special "meetup". Gordon and Juanita were the very first commenters on our blog. We've been avid readers of their travel journal since we started reading travel journals. Since that first connection over a year ago, they have provided us with valuable information, inspiration, insight, encouragement and a some broad shoulders to cry on. Along the way, we deemed Gordon "da Godfadda". We knew da Godfadda and his lovely bride would be spending the summer in Port Orford. As soon as we had a closing date, we made reservations to spend a week at their wonderful summer park. We could not think of a better way to start our fulltiming adventures.

To say we received a warm welcome to Port Orford would be an understatement. As we pulled into the unfamiliar park, we saw a very familiar face sitting on a bench with camera in hand, capturing our arrival. We cheered and hopped out of the moose as fast as we could to greet Gordon. Again, it was a first time meeting with a long-time friend. Moments later, we spotted Juanita. We had the privilege of meeting Juanita over lunch in February. So, this was a second meeting with a long-time friend. Hugs, smiles and laughter all around. What a pleasure it is to see these wonderful people who mean so much to us. We could not have made this journey without them.

We're so glad we're able to spend some time here! It gives us plenty of time to spend together. As I informed Gordon when I made our reservation: "I hope you like us. We're staying a week!" Gordon, Juanita and their best friend Bodie hosted a wonderful welcome dinner that featured some fine Alaskan halibut from their adventures we read about last summer. They went to a lot of time and trouble to deliver that tasty entree! Between every delicious bite and celebratory sip we shared more stories and filled in between the lines of our respective journals. The spaces between the words were filled with lots of laughter. We couldn't imagine a warmer welcome.

Gordon and Juanita have introduced us to several friends in this wonderful park. The park owner's, Cindy and Tim, are fellow escapees from California who made us feel immediately right at home. They promote a real sense of community in their park and it shows. Sue and Doug are avid readers of da Godfadda's journal. They traveled to Port Orford from their home in Canada catch up with Gordon and Juanita. As future fulltimers, this very fun couple was very curious about our transition. They probably heard more than they wanted about how it is to purge a stick house of so much stuff! We look forward to spending more time with them this week and seeing them on the road in the future. (And, we're so happy to see they're following our blog. We look forward to reading their just birthed travel journal.)

Although we don't want to think about leaving Port Orford just yet, we're excited about other "meetups" that are scheduled down the road. We look forward to meeting Deb and Rod in Port Angeles, Jenny (and maybe Neil) near Spokane. Plus, we'll hook up with good friends from the Bay Area when we're in Montana. How fun!

Sure, in our initial days of fulltiming, we've seen some amazing, breathtaking and stunning sights. (I need to brush up on my superlatives!) But, the best thing - by far - has been the chance to meet and spend time with some very special people.

Tale of Two Blogs

Chronicles of our travels through Bend, Crescent, stunning Crater Lake and on to Roseburg can be found at Bullwinkle's Travels.

Yeah, for right now anyway, we're keeping these two blogs separate. Bullwinkle's Travels is about the places we go. We think of it as our travel blog. The Great RV Escape is about what we're doing: fulltiming. 

This will be the place where we tell you the honest to goodness truth about life on the road. Throughout our fulltiming preparations, I remember devouring each and every fulltimer's blog I could find. I had interest in the sights they were seeing, of course. But, what I really wanted to get the scoop on was how it was to be a fulltimer. So, for those of you with a unquenchable thirst for inside info about this lifestyle, this is your place. We'll provide links to Bullwinkle's Travels from time to time so you can check in on the places we go. And, if you're more interested in where we go than how we're living, that's OK, too. Bullwinkle's Travels is the perfect place for you. 

Is maintaining two blogs a little nuts? Maybe. But, heck. For once, we have the time! If we could do this when we were toasty workaholics we can definitely do it now.

That said, the topics for this blog are piling up. There's so much to share! Now that we're here in Port Orford for more than just a couple of nights, I'm eager to catch up.

Much more very soon.

Our First Week

Today marks our seventh day as fulltimers. What a week it's been!

We're chilling out in Crescent, OR, just about an hour south of Bend. Our travel day was extremely easy. We're rethinking our 250-mile per travel day limit. Maybe it should be more like 50 miles! (Just kidding!)

Light travel day aside, we realize our initial fulltiming itinerary looks more like one of vacationers. With a couple of nights here, a few nights there, and a night or two not far from there, we're moving around more than we will be. But, for now, it's a whole lotta fun.

I am most pleased to report that we are well on the road to recovery. We've had a couple of great night's sleep. So, we're no longer dog tired. We're emerging from what can best be described as some kind of fog. We thought we'd been thinking clearly over the last week, but it's obvious we weren't. Mt. Shasta is a distant blur. And, as Paul commented this morning, it seems like we arrived in Bend a month ago.

We spent Saturday morning cleaning the place. And, that definitely helped it feel more like home. We're still looking for things here and there, but more and more things have found their rightful place. And, most importantly, we're remembering where that place is!

We may not be settled just yet. But, after our first week on the road, we think we can see it from here.

Taking it Easy

We're sitting outside enjoying the weather and watching the weekenders arrive in this lovely park. Paul's preparing to open a bottle of fine champagne we've been meaning to consume for a couple of days now. We'll take one more opportunity to toast our brand-new lifestyle. 

We wandered around Bend for a bit today. But, basically, we did nothing...again. No matter how you slice it, we are being pretty darn lazy these days. We're resisting the temptation to run around and see everything. Instead we're giving our bodies time to rest and our minds time to adjust. 

Today we realized that we've been running at a million miles per hour for the last three months. Well, except for the last four days.  As soon as we hit the road, ironically, all that stopped. Only now can we see the cumulative effects of all that stress. We're both tending to sore and stiff parts of ourselves. We are discovering what happens when your weary brain tells you to pack something for the RV and your body packs it for storage, and vice versa. We're trying to find all kinds of things and still, believe it or not, finding things we can live without. 

And, did I tell you we're tired? 

We aren't complaining!  Really, we're not. It's just something to finally be able to stop. It may take our formerly busy bodies time to catch up. That's all. 

For now, we'll just take it easy.

Revelations

Now that we're fulltimers, and we're no longer employed, we figured it was time to reveal our true identities. Boris and Natasha are actually Paul and Mary. And, while our RV is named Bullwinkle and our toad is named Rocky and that all seems to fit perfectly, we must warn you. Our first cat's name was Peter. So, when it comes to Peter, Paul and Mary, we've been there, done that and definitely have the t-shirt.

Our trip from Mt. Shasta to Bend was eventless. Just the way we like them. That said, we did have a wee bit of excitement as we followed the mapquest directions off the highway rather than the handy dandy directions provided on the RV park's website. And, guess what? That was a big mistake!

We were 1/2 mile from our lovely RV park when we came upon an overpass that stated a sign with 12 feet, 10 inches of clearance. 

Uh huh. Well, actually, no!

We are at least 13 feet tall. So, no matter how we approached that low-hanging bridge, we weren't gonna fit. And, by the looks of things, dozens of AC units, antennas and front ends of motorhomes had met their maker on that overpass.

We did what we were instructed to do when we bought our moose: We stopped, got out, and sussed it out. Bottom line: We needed to unhook the Jeep, turn around and find another entry to the park. 

Paul commenced with the unhooking while I did my best to direct traffic safely around us. Within minutes he had the squirrel separated from the moose. Meanwhile, a car of angels showed up. This lovely pair knew of our plight. Actually, they had been here before. They offered to lead the way to our RV park. We were SO grateful. 

Turns out they are fulltimers from southern California who have been traveling the country for the last year or so. They were thrilled for us that we were just beginning our fulltiming adventures. 

With Paul following our new-found angel friends, I followed behind in the Jeep and we found our way to the Crown Villa RV Resort. It's way fancy.  And, we're so pleased to have arrived here safely. This is one great place to hang out for a few days.

So, we'll do exactly that!

Cheers!

Decompression Day

Today we slept, ate, walked, napped, read and went in search of a geocache or two.

Tonight we're looking forward to our postponed celebratory feast.

Tomorrow we're off to Bend.

Spotty wifi here, so we'll keep this short.

Life is good.

Our Independence Day

The Great RV Escape has, at long last, begun.

It's official. We're fulltimers!

Our last morning in the Bay Area started early. Like every morning for the last couple of weeks, we had a lot of stuff to do. We had piles of stuff sitting outside the moose, and each pile needed to go somewhere. Resisting the temptation to simply put the stuff somewhere and roll, we wisely took the time to get organized. Believe it or not, the purging continued! A couple of hours later, we had a place for almost everything. We gifted several items to our hosts: storage tubs, cleaning supplies, hangers, liquor and wine. (We have plenty of the latter on board!) It felt great to leave that extra weight behind at the start.

With our organization complete, we were off to run our last errands: We returned our cable modem; I mailed the keys to our former back gate to the new owner and had my vintage Gibson guitar packed and shipped off to my brother; and, Boris got one last haircut from his favorite barber. We picked up a yummy grinder sandwich from a great neighborhood spot and took it back to the moose for lunch. On the way, our realtor called to tell us the title transfer was complete.

With that call, we were now free to roam about the country!

Though we were hungry, we were too excited to eat. We decided to share half the sandwich for lunch and saved the rest for later. In just a few minutes we had the moose ready to roll.

This was the moment we were waiting for! All of our preparation, hard work and good luck was leading to this day - this moment - for our new lifestyle to begin. We took a deep breath (OK, actually, it was several) and headed out.

The egress from our hosts' house was a bit tricky (though not as scary as the ingress!) so we decided to save the hooking up for a church parking lot about couple of miles away. There, a UPS driver, City of Oakland employee and several church volunteer gardeners likely took great amusement in watching these brand new fulltimers get hooked up.

For the benefit of our future fulltiming friends, we offer the following advice: If you plan to carry a bike rack on your tow hitch, take it on a test run before you load up for your fulltiming adventure.

Among the hundreds of "to-dos" we've done over recent months, one was to have our drop hitch receiver modified to accept our bike rack. Another was to replace our bike rack with a more RV-friendly version. Done and done. What we had not done, however, is try them all out with the squirrel in tow. So, the driver, city employee and gardeners got quite a show as we unloaded three bikes and figured out how to get the Jeep hooked up. It won't be that complicated in the future, thankfully. And, with practice, we'll get better at it all. With everything finally hooked together, we started toward the street. With the first right turn in the parking lot, we checked the camera. It looked like a front corner of the Jeep was plowing into Boris' fancy road bike. (Yikes!) We stopped, jumped out and looked. Turns out that camera angle can be quite deceiving. Thankfully, the bike and Jeep had plenty of clearance.

We waved a friendly so long to the amused gardeners and thanked them for the use of their parking lot. At 2:00 PM Pacific Time, we hit the road. It was much later than we had anticipated. With an estimated six hours of travel ahead of us, we were in for a long first travel day. We did our very best to get our adrenaline levels down to something close to normal and settle in for the first leg of our great escape.

It was a gorgeous day to travel. Sunny, with little wind and very pleasant Summer temperatures. With surprisingly little emotion, we waved so long to Oakland and traveled on very familiar highways most of the afternoon. Along the way, we reflected on what it took for us to get to this point, and how happy we were to finally be here. As we passed Redding we were venturing into new territory, and it was beautiful. As we were crossing stunning Lake Shasta, we placed a call to our fulltiming Godfadda and his bride to share our virtual toast to new adventures. (We saved our toast for later, of course!)

At 8PM, we pulled into the Mount Shasta KOA, which sits in the shadow of - you guessed it - magnificent Mount Shasta. We were settled into our very level pull thru in a matter of minutes. We made a couple of quick calls to family members to let them know we'd made it safely to our destination, and then enjoyed our favorite adult beverages with a toast to our exciting new lifestyle. With plans for a special celebratory dinner, we opted to save that meal for tomorrow - given the late hour. Instead, we sat down to what will surely be a very memorable first night meal.

Yep, we shared the rest of the sandwich and a Heineken.

With that, we're calling it a day. And, like so many of our fulltiming friends, we just can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow.

Moving Out

The papers are signed.

The POD is gone (and the HOA board members cheered).

1-800-GOT-JUNK has come and taken ours away. 

Salvation Army should be here soon, though someone apparently came by and took about half of what we left for them. 

We've shuffled a load or two to our rolling home. 

All that's left is a little bit of cleanup. 

Before we do that, we're going to unhook the modem. So, it's time for us to sign off until we're back within wi-fi range. And, that might be tomorrow night.

By then, we have high hopes of being very happy fulltimers. 

For now, we're flat out exhausted soon-to-be-former homeowners. 

All is well. Let me just say we've collected a bunch of stories this week that will make great campfire conversation down the road. We look forward to it. 

More soon...from the road!

Down to the Wire

Yes, it's crunch time, people.

We have much to do before our heads hit the pillows in our rolling home tonight. But, so far, so good. 

The POD is packing quite nicely, if you don't count the nasty stares by HOA board members as they pass by. And, the piles for Salvation Army and 1-800-Got-Junk, who will both be passing by tomorrow, are manageable. Though it all still feels a little surreal, we're confident we will get it done tonight. We can only hope that we can wrap it all up at a reasonable hour. 

For having so much work to do today we sure had a busy social calendar. We had brunch with friends and said so long to one of our party hosts before she hopped in her taxi for the airport. An old friend and her daughter stopped by this afternoon to take some things off our hands and help out. But, we're down to the point where, as Boris says, everything we touch involves us having to make a decision. So, that made it a little tough to delegate.

The extra special treat in our day was an phone call from Gordon (aka da Godfadda) and Juanita. Having traveled this path more than three years ago, they know how these last days feel. We so appreciated their call of encouragement. We made a virtual date to enjoy a celebratory toast to our independence on Tuesday. We so look forward to seeing them live and in person in Port Orford in a couple of weeks to continue the celebration.

Time's a wasting, so I'll close. More to come.

Celebrating Our Independence

As predicted, this is indeed turning into some kind of Saturday. We're getting close to wrapping up our packing and purging. We have about half of the day tomorrow, then it needs to be done. And, it will be, one way or the other.

We are so ready!

Our frenetic Friday continued into the evening. When we returned home from the vet, we had a message from a member of our HOA board. She was none too happy to see our POD sitting on our private street. And, she just had to tell us all about it. She was sure our local fire department was going to fine us $100 a night for our violation. We said we were sorry, this isn't how things were supposed to turn out, and we'd do whatever we could.

We called PODS to see if there was anything they could do, such as pick the pod up today. But, to no avail, the local site was closed for the holiday. The earliest it could be picked is Monday, our regularly scheduled time. 

Next thing we knew, the PODS people were calling us. Seems they had received nasty emails from two of our HOA board members. They asked us to assume all liability if anything happened while it was on the street. We said we would. Then, emails were flying between our HOA board and the PODS people. To say we were frustrated with the whole situation would be an understatement. 

Now, it's important to understand that our neighbors have said they are fine with this. It's the size of a car sitting on the curb. Everyone can get around just fine. (Even a fire truck!) No one has been inconvenienced in any way. In talking with the neighbors, we've learned that this is SOP for our HOA board. They love to get into everyone's business. It's obvious they have nothing better to do. Boris has started referring to them as our HOA "bored". 

With all of this correspondence flying, and the sun getting ready to set in the West, we decided we'd take a few extra steps to make our big white box on the curb look a little more visible. Though we were due at a farewell dinner in our honor, we made a trip to Home Depot and an auto parts store to pick up two bright orange cones, two reflective safety triangles and a handful of round stick-on orange reflectors. Back home, we surrounded the box with glowing orange and headed off to our dinner, nearly two hours late. 

Emails continued to fly during the evening. The president of our HOA emailed our agent! Our degree of agitation continued to boil. Afraid we weren't very good company, we excused ourselves from dinner and headed home. As we pulled onto our street in the dark, we were so pleased to see all of the day-glo orange doing its job. You can't miss this thing! 

Neither of us slept particularly well or long last night. This morning over coffee we read the latest email exchange, and it seems that the tempers of our HOA board members have cooled. Perhaps everyone has come to accept that, on this holiday weekend, the soonest this big box will be moved is Monday morning.  And, maybe our HOA board members have, at long last, decided to get a life.

Our heads are cooler today, as well. It's just one more piece of affirmation that we no longer want to be here and have far better places to go. 

We're taking a break from our last minute surge to attend our going away party. It should be a fun, informal gathering of friends. Together, we'll grill a few brats, have a beer or two, check out our motorhome, see some fireworks. In the end, we won't say goodbye. We'll simply say, see you later. 

We wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. It's an extra special holiday for us, as we celebrate our very soon-to-be independence.

Cheers!

Frenetic Friday

The madness continues! 

But first, we took a well-deserved break last night and met a former colleague for drinks after work. It was great to see her again and catch up. While we were together we ran into a client from our former firm. She seemed very interested in what we were up to and said we both look 10 years younger! 

After drinks the younger-looking two of us stopped for dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant for one last simple and very tasty Italian meal. We'll definitely miss that place, but look forward to finding many other favorite neighborhood spots around the country. 

Our frenetic day started early. We got the house ready for the walk-through with the new buyer. I finished the binding on Bullwinkle's quilt and finally got our old PC laptop up and running again. Then, we headed out to rescue Bullwinkle from storage. 

Bullwinkle's fulltiming journey is already underway! We vacated our not-so-secure storage lot and headed toward home to our friends' house with the big driveway. Boris captained the moose on its first trip through the nearby Caldecott Tunnel. As I followed behind in the squirrel, it looked as if Boris had made this trip hundreds of times. It was a piece of cake! We ventured along roads that were familiar to us, but new to Bullwinkle. Pulling into our friends' long driveway took some time and several friendly discussions, but we got it done, leaving the moose parked there for the holiday weekend. 

With Bullwinkle settled, we ran the short distance home to meet our buyer and her agents for the walk-through. She's a seemingly lovely woman who seems to think our house is lovely. And, she's paying over our asking price, cash. It was a weird visit. But, it's all good.

While the walk-through was wrapping up, our POD storage unit arrived. With much noise and fanfare, our 7 x 7 x 8 foot box landed safely on our street. Now, it's sitting there just waiting for us to fill it! And, we will. 

Next up is a final trip to the vet for one of our lucky felines. Then, we're off to the suburbs to have dinner with friends. 

Tomorrow is sure to be some kind of Saturday.

Thrilling Thursday

So much progress today! 

The most thrilling event of the day was the "de-staging" of our house. In just over an hour, a crew of three removed all of the furniture and decorative items. We couldn't believe how fast they worked! 

Boris sold the beemer today. Hip, hip Hooray! Now, our only vehicles are Bullwinkle and Rocky. 

The Salvation Army guys are starting to feel like family. They came by today to pick up another truck load. And, they'll be back for their final pickup on Monday. They are very grateful for our generosity. We are so grateful to them for giving new purpose to so much of our stuff. 

A friend stopped by this morning and saw the stack of stuff we put out for "the guys". He eyed our camping equipment and we handed it over. He'll put it to good use and we feel good helping out a friend. 

All of that thrilling activity leaves us with a big empty space. And, that's just what we needed. Now, we can actually see what's left. It actually looks like we're moving. 

It's about time!

Wonderful Wednesday

I'm sticking with the alliteration, folks. Whatever it takes to get through this wacky week! 

We still have lots to do today. So, this will be quick. 

The best part of today was our trip to the title company, where we signed our closing documents. (Yippee!) The second best part was seeing our big sectional get loaded into a truck after it was purchased by a lovely family. (Double Yippee!) The third best part was confirming a time tomorrow morning to deliver our BMW to its soon-to-be-new owner. (Triple Yippee!) And, just this moment the UPS guy dropped off our new bike rack cover. (Quadruple Yippee!)

The rest of the day has been (and will continue to be) spent sorting through stuff.  (How can we STILL have stuff in this house. Is it multiplying, or what?) We have designated three areas for our belongings: stuff for the RV, stuff for our two remaining Salvation Army pickups and stuff for the POD. Anything not fitting in one of those three categories is headed for the trash. (Something tells me we'll be combing neighborhood trash bins far and wide Sunday night!) We stacked our moving boxes inside one of the 7-by-7 foot squares in our garage, and we're optimistic that it might all actually fit. That said, we are continuing to be ruthless in our purging. 

When we've needed a break from that never-ending task, we've made calls and logged on to various service providers to change our address and "go paperless" whenever we can. When those activities provide a welcome break, it's time to get a new life. 

Oh yeah. We're are!